Hood River – Windsurfing and Post Canyon

Shawn, Henry, and I all had a weekend off, with Kayla in Ontario with Cheryl we decided to go to Hood River. Hood River is a world class windsurfing destination, that also happens to be close to Mt. Hood – which is open for skiing throughout the summer. It’s a great place to bike, hike, and has some good breweries, and wineries nearby.

Usually we camp outside of the town center, but this time I decided to splurge and book a hotel room – such a good idea. We stayed at the Best Western which was minutes from windsurfing, a walk to the core town center, and the bike rental shop.

We didn’t decide we were going to go to Hood River until Thursday night, so my Friday afternoon was spent finding a place to stay, and making sure we had enough stuff to do for the weekend. The weather forecast everywhere within a 5 hour drive radius from Seattle was for rain, so we had to mentally prepare for it.

We left Saturday morning, bright and early. It rained on the way there:
 

Luckily it cleared up as we got into Hood River. We arrived in time to get lunch at the Full Sail brewery ahead of our windsurfing lessons that were booked for 2pm.

 

Shawn signed up for the more advanced lesson while Henry and I took on the beginner lesson, so after the brewery we went straight to Big Winds to get ready.

Here we were getting ready for our lesson:

Henry and I split from Shawn for the beginner lesson. The wind was strong, and we did a pretty good job, but I managed to somehow crush my baby finger between the board and the rudder, so that cut my lesson short. Henry wasn’t out much longer, but Shawn was having such a good time that we decided to go back to Full Sail, and let Shawn hang out in the water for the full length of the lesson.

Once done, we decided to take the hike across the river to the Maryhill Winery. We made it there just in time to get a good tasting in. I bought a couple of bottles of Merlot, and it was about 40 mins out of Hood River, so by the time we got back we were ready to check into our hotel.

This was the view from our room:

We then went out for dinner, and spent the night looking for live music – which wasn’t difficult since the band in town could be heard from a mile away. We sat in the local pub and watched live music all night. When we got back to the hotel room we were definitely ready to hit the sack.

In the morning we went to Mountain View Cycles to rent bikes for our ride out at Post Canyon. They had enough rentals to outfit us for our trip, soon we were packing the car and getting ready to go.

Post Canyon was much closer to Hood River than I expected. Literally a 7 minute drive from the bike shop. We could have biked it actually. It’s a network of trails that includes everything from slick XC riding to massive freeride stunts. We stuck to the cross country stuff for this trip.

Here’s Shawn up at the top end of our loop:

We rode for a good 3 hours. We even found ourselves lost at one point, but eventually found our way. The bike shop closed at 5, so we needed to get back. Instead of taking the XC run out we took a run called “Frankenstein” which was clearly to big for cross country bikes.

Anyhow, at the end of the day we packed the car back up:

After bringing back the bikes we once again ate at the Full Sail brewery. So good. I decided it was worth buying a case of their LTD02, and their Session Black.

Henry drove us back home, we packed a lot into the two days we were gone, and hopefully we organize another trip out there.

Here was the take from the weekend:

Until next time!

Kayla’s Southern Ontario tour

Cheryl, Kayla, and I just got back from 11 days in Ontario. The catalyst for this vacation was my cousin Vince’s wedding in Kitchener. This, of course, was perfect for Cheryl and I because my family would be at the wedding, and Cheryl’s sister Amy lives just minutes from the Church where Amy and Vince were getting married, so this became quite the family event. This was Kayla’s first flight, so we wanted to make sure all family had a chance to meet her.

Day 1: Seattle to Kitchener

Our day started very early. We had to leave at 5am, so our alarms were set for 4:45am – the first time since Kayla was born that I actually needed an alarm to wake up. We grabbed Kayla, and… Trang (our fearless neighbor) was kind enough to offer us a ride to the airport.

The flight started pretty smooth. Cheryl fed Kayla on the way up, once the seatbelt signs were turned off she handed Kayla to me. Kayla immediately soiled her diaper in an explosive fashion that seemed like it could be heard throughout the plane. Great. So, I went over to talk to Cheryl, and without really saying much she knew what was going on. She immediately started mumbling something under her breath, something like “we can’t”… I didn’t get it, but apparently she was trying to tell me we can’t change her. That’s right, 30 mins into a 5 hour flight we have found ourselves in a crappy situation with no diapers. The leakage had already seeped through her clothes, and was immediately apparent to anyone within visual, or smelling distance. This was a problem, and our choices didn’t look good. We went into the only economy class toilet on the plane to discuss our options, and eventually decided that building a diaper out of our receiving blankets was the best step forward.

Luckily the flight attendant we had talked to found out the one other family on this plane had a 2 year old who was still in diapers (pull-ups to be more precise). The flight attendant came back to us with one of those pull-ups, which, was so much better than the option we were considering. It’s amazing how well a pull-up meant for a 2 year old still fit a 4 month old baby… We offered to buy that family anything they wanted, but they refused, so that was that.

The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful, Kayla did a great job. Cheryl was so excited that the landing didn’t bother Kayla’s ears that she forgot her recently purchased Blackberry Bold on the plane – yup it’s gone. Bummer.

Kayla and Cheryl (minus phone) in the Toronto airport:

We got through customs, rented our car, and drove Kayla to Amy and RJ’s house in Kitchener. It was so nice to see them, and ultra good of them to let us stay at their place with an infant that was destined to keep everyone up at night.

We arrived early enough for Cheryl and Kayla to go to Lindsay’s softball game – Kayla’s first! Lindsay had a hit and a run while we were there!

Cheryl went to bed early in the evening, while I decided to meet my family at the Friday night get together post-rehearsal. There I had a chance to hang out with almost all of my family, and see Vince prior to his wedding. Good times!

Day 2: Kitchener – Vince and Amy’s wedding day

Cheryl organized a brunch for my side of the family, so Saturday morning mom/dad (sometimes referred to as Grandma and Grandpa Sauvé since Kayla’s birth), my brothers, and their significant others met at Kelsey’s. I was excited that everyone made it out, and Kayla was on parade.

Kayla enjoying the attention of her family:

Then it was time to go to the wedding! The wedding was great, it went very smoothly, and although Kayla took a short break to be changed (twice) she did manage to come back in for the grand finale.

The reception was in the same hotel my parents were staying in, so we headed back there to meet up ahead of its opening. There we had the opportunity to hang out with more of the family, and relax.

Everyone gets to meet Kayla :)

The reception started shortly afterwards. It was great, well done Vince/Amy!! I won’t spend too much time talking about the wedding other than to say that it was such a fun time, and was very smooth! I will also not put any photos up of Nathan dancing. I know he would appreciate that, but let me say – it happened.

Day 3: Food and Cake in Kitchener

Not only did Amy let Cheryl, Kayla, and I stay at her place, but she also offered up her house for a family get together while they were out at their cottage on Lake Huron.

All of my brothers managed to make it out to this too which was outstanding. I don’t remember the last time we had so much time all together, it has been many years.

Dinner pics:
 

It was Steve’s birthday on the Monday, so we decided to celebrate with a cake. I think it has been over 15 years since we have all been at a brother’s birthday party together. I could be wrong there, but really, it’s been a long time.

Birthday pics:

And we all posed for some pics for all the brothers:

 

Day 4: Cottage on Lake Huron

Amy and RJ have a cottage on Lake Huron, so early Monday morning Cheryl, Kayla, and I went out there to meet up with them. Kayla had the opportunity to dip her feet in one of our great lakes for the first time.

Day 5: Kitchener to Fergus 

On our way to Fergus we were fortunate enough to meet up with Jen and Ryan, our good friends from high school. They also have a new baby Edrick, so Kayla had someone to play with.

 

We were, of course, not going to Fergus for their world famous sauerkraut (inside joke). We were going to visit Amanda and Marcel, who also have their own bundle of joy in Marcus.

When we arrived in Fergus, Amanda had already put Marcus to bed, so we played with Kayla, and then had a great BBQ meal before Marcel made it home from a long day at the office. We stayed up and almost got their propane campfire lit in the backyard, but since that didn’t quite work we had oreo cookies instead of smores.

Day 6: Fergus to Midland

Marcel had a day off, and Joanne took an unpaid day, so there was a full house. Kayla had plenty of time to play with Joshua, and Marcus, and she even had a chance to try out the pool – though she didn’t really last very long in the pool…

We took a walk into the thriving metropolis that is Fergus and all had iced cappuccino's at the local Tim Horton’s. It was sweltering hot, so Kayla, and Joshua opted for a car ride home. Good thing there was air conditioning back at the house!

We decided to wait out the traffic before heading to Midland, so we had another BBQ dinner with Amanda and Marcel. I think this time my BBQ asparagus turned out ok for a change :)

Midland is about a 2.5 hour drive from Fergus, so we timed the departure with Kayla’s nap to be sure she had some chance of sleeping during the ride – which she did, the whole way and late into the night. We were very proud of her!

Day 7 and 8: Midland

It was great to be able to visit Grandma Frey, in the same trip as Grandma Sauvé! Kayla was on her best behavior, and since it was still very hot outside she had an opportunity to wear her summer clothes. Very exciting :)  Kayla visited with Grandma’s friends and we played some football and had ice cream by the lake.

  

On the second day we made our trek back to Toronto where we were to meet up with Ryan and Alana, our friends from University. The trip south went smoothly, we ran into some traffic in downtown Toronto, but Kayla slept the whole way there again!

Alana and Ryan were at home when we got in, and almost ready to put Arwen to bed. We had dinner, and spent some time catching up. It had been a long time since I’d seen Ryan and Alana, but they really hadn’t changed much at all. It was great they let us stay in their place – we don’t travel light anymore…

Day 9 and 10: Toronto

Kayla woke up early both days in Toronto, but the first day Ryan and I decided to go biking in the Albion Hills Conservation Area near Don Mills. I rented a bike from CyclePath, and Ryan and I took a quick loop around the 15km stretch of trail. The technical aspect was not quite on par with the West Coast trails, but my pedaling muscles got a serious work-out since it’s the first time I’ve done a true XC ride in what seems like forever.

In the meantime, Cheryl and Alana got to hang out with Becky (another friend from High School), and they all played with Kayla and Arwen.

Afterwards we decided it would be a good idea to go for some ice cream at a “nearby” ice cream shop. The walk was a bit longer than I had anticipated, but I suppose when you eat a 2000 calorie ice cream desert ahead of dinner it’s not bad to burn off a few calories :)

When we got back in we had some very good filet mignon on the grill. Sweet!

Day 11: Toronto to Seattle

In the morning we had some more time to play with Kayla, but we also had a brunch scheduled with another friend from back in High School – Sean, his wife Jamie, and their very cute baby: Mika.

We made the most out of the all-you-can-eat buffet, and then it was time to bring the rental car back, and head back to the airport. This time we were sure to have diapers in the diaper bag!

What a trip! We were so tired when I got back to Seattle that I almost forgot Kayla in an elevator! I scrambled out with all the bags I was carrying, and heard a voice from behind me “Hey Mister, you forgot your baby!”… I slowly turned around, grabbed Kayla and we were on our way again :)

Trang (our wonderful neighbour & friend) again picked us up from the airport, and we made it home safe and sound from Kayla’s first international flight, and her Southern Ontario tour.

Until next time!